Dog Problems
by theoriginalmcgoo
Summary: Beca is always running away


B is for believing you'd always be here for me

They become friends, through coincidence, or fate, or something like that because there is no way two girls like Beca and Chloe would connect under normal circumstances. It takes a while, a few months longer than Chloe would have liked, but it happens. Beca becomes a part of the Bellas, and therefore becomes a constant in her life.

E is for everything, even when we see it through

When she looks back on it, maybe it wasn't fate that sent Chloe bursting through the shower curtain, or fate that brought her to Beca's dorm room with Chinese food every friday night, but she continues to believe it. She spends most of the year getting close to Beca, goes from forcing herself (metaphorically) upon the smaller girl to crashing with her on the tiny sofa bed after a long night. Aubrey is still her number one, but Beca's not far behind, with her giant headphones and passion for the kind of music Aubrey just doesn't get. While Aubrey spat that she was, "too alternative," Chloe just finds herself fascinated by it, like a new kind of person that she didn't know could coexist with her before.

C, c is for seeing through you, you are a fake

Chloe thinks that maybe Beca isn't fake, strictly speaking, but there's something there that tells you one thing and gives you something completely different. It's not Beca's fault, she knows it, but the casual throwaway comments, "you should be," and the winks and general flirtation can push you in a certain direction. It's this that leads Chloe's happy friendship with Beca down a less friendly path. It's what causes the pull in Chloe's chest and the flutter in her stomach and the dryness of her throat (or maybe it's the nodes, but Chloe doubts it) when she sees Beca. It's what draws her to the other woman, and it's what ruins their friendship forever. It's simultaneously the best and the worst thing to ever happen her. So not a fake, necessarily. An illusionist maybe, but that's not her fault (although sometimes Chloe thinks it is, that she does it on purpose. She doesn't think it's possible to be that oblivious to the effect you have on someone.)

which brings me to

A because because you always run away

They don't hide much as friends, Beca discloses details of her parents break up, and gets a little teary as she does, and one night after a couple of wine coolers Chloe let's slip that sometimes maybe she might be attracted to other girls. She doesn't tell, however, that it's pretty much exclusive and she most definitely doesn't tell that Beca's the focus of her attraction at the minute. Beca mentions how she thought she might be gay in high school and Chloe's heart lifts hopefully, but then she laughs and says that it was only because her high school was full of douchey boys and pretty girls. She explains how she got her first real boyfriend one summer, and realised that she's into boys first and foremost. Chloe's mind forgets that for one to think they're gay, there has to be some attraction to girls, and her brain only hears, "boys, first and foremost," over and over again. She declines an invite to stay that night and cries herself to sleep under the watchful eye of Aubrey, who knows better than to talk to her in this state.

The morning after, Chloe explains it as shower sex boy having a girlfriend now, and pretends not to notice how Aubrey doesn't believe a word. They don't speak any more of it, and as Chloe's mind clears she starts to remember more of their conversation, and after a few weeks she's forgotten everything except that Beca was once attracted to girls, so she could be again. It's what gets her through the weeks up to Regionals, it's what makes her feelings towards Beca stronger and it's what pushes her to make what is probably the worst decision in the world.

Chloe runs after Beca as she tries to leave after Regionals, after she'd let the whole team down (Chloe doesn't care, she thinks it was brave) and kisses her. She catches her when she's outside, calling her dad to pick her up, and pulls the phone from her hand before she manages to dial anything. Before Beca can stop her, or Chloe can stop herself, she has Beca's hands in hers and she's pressed her against the wall and they're kissing, and just for a second, Chloe feels Beca kissing back. Before she lets herself enjoy the moment, she's being pushed away, and Beca is running, across the parking lot like Chloe is a fire that's going to chase and burn her. Chloe's vision is blurring and she's getting lightheaded and she rescued only by an arm (Cynthia Rose's, she learns later on) around her waist. She doesn't remember anything after that, only that she wakes up the next morning in her bed in the room she shares with Aubrey. Aubrey looks at her sympathetically, and Chloe smiles and says she's fine, and pretends Aubrey believe's her.

They've lost, so Chloe thinks she isn't getting another shot at this singing thing, which is why, she gets her node operation. Beca hasn't spoken to her since the night of Regionals, which she calls, in her head, "the night I ruined everything." Beca ran away from her, and Chloe doesn't know what else she expected. The beautiful straight girls just aren't into that.

Somehow, the Bellas get back together, get back int he competition, and Beca acknowledges Chloe for the first time in weeks. It's nothing more than a smile and a light nod, but it's something. Chloe corners Beca when everyone else leaves to apologise. They agree to go back to just being friends, and Beca does utter the words, "I've missed you," and they hug, and Chloe pretends she's okay. She pretends that it will be enough. She's doing a lot of pretending these days.

Beca kisses Jesse after their final performance. Chloe's on as much of a high as everyone else, her last real performance with the Bellas before she graduates turns out to be her best yet. She hugs Aubrey, then Stacie, and Lilly and Cynthia Rose and Jessica but all the while she's looking around her for the flash of brown hair accompanied by a crooked smile, the one person she really wants to share her joy with. She stops cold as she sees what's happening, what Beca's doing, and feels her eyes moisten. She's brought out of her trance by the feel of Aubrey's hand in hers tugging her along and acting like her secret's still a secret. Aubrey knows, and she doesn't mind. She doesn't mind that her best friend fell in love with the alt girl who shouldn't fit into the Bellas at all, who changed everything they stood for. So when Chloe buries her head in Aubrey's shoulder, and the tears start to flow, she's met with a gentle, "it's alright," and makes a mental note to thank Aubrey later for being so great.

They've won, and now it's all over. The best year of Chloe's four years at Barden has come to an end, and she's leaving in a week, and it's killing her inside. Beca made good on her promise to stay friends and go back to the way they were, but Chloe can't stop wishing. Somehow, on the night of her graduation, she gets ten minutes alone with Beca. The first thing she hears is, "I'll miss you."

The second is, "You look pretty today."

The third, "I broke up with Jesse." Honestly, Chloe didn't even know they were dating, but she goes along with it, with a hug and an apology.

"I was in love with someone else," stops Chloe in her tracks. Beca's looking her dead in the eye now, "I was just scared."

She kisses Beca because it seems like the only thing left to do, and for once Beca doesn't run away


End file.
